7x01 The Bad Batch

[7.3/10] The Clone Wars is back! That is exciting! For fans of the show’s original run, it is such a thrill to get to see the series close out its story on its own terms, to hear that music and those voices again, and to see our favorite clones and Jedi and allies back in action. We live in the age of the late sequel and the revival, and this is one I looked forward to without reservation.

The other side of the coin is that if you’re as big a fan of the show as to be that excited, then you’ve probably already watched the “story reels” the show’s creators released. These unfinished episodes had voice tracks and basic animatics that were crude in comparison to the finished projects, but let us see some untold stories brought to life. For better or worse, one of those was “The Bad Batch”, and having seen that episode before takes some of the punch out of this one.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a big difference between some stiffly animated rough sequences and seeing these characters and their story done up in full CGI splendor. This is arguably the best The Clone Wars has ever looked. Each member of the titular batch of clones with “favorable mutations” has a distinctive look, the characters’ expressions are wonderfully realizes, and even just their transport ship kicking up sparks as it skids through a valley is eye-catching. The story reels were, by definition, incomplete products, and seeing them finished set at a level that may even be better than when the show went off the air is very cool.

At the same time, as much as I enjoy those visual thrills, I’m more in this for the story than for the spectacle. “The Bad Batch” still tells a good one, but it’s one I know already (assuming the show sticks with what we’ve seen before), which lessens its impact seeing it told again just a few years later.

That said, I still like the core idea. The prospect of an algorithm that adapts to the Clone Troopers’ tactics and leads to mounting defeats is a strong one. The idea that it’s a living person, not a machine, generating them, is a scary idea. And the tease that it might be the long-thought-perished Echo who’s generating those plans adds the right mix of hope and wariness to the proceedings.

I’ll also cop to finding the Bad Batch clones themselves a kind of generic assortment of strike force archetypes, but I still like them well enough. You have the heavy, the tech nerd, the silent assassin, and the badass leader guy, which are all shopworn types, but they definitely add color to the proceedings, which I enjoy. There’s some well-done tension between these more eccentric clones who are a little more individualistic and direct than the “regs” they’re working with here. That dovetails nicely with the idea that it takes these “outside the box” clones to go up against Echo and his knowledge of Rex’s usual tactics.

Otherwise, it’s fun to see the battle droids given the ol’ what-for. (Though I have to admit, after watching The Freemaker Adventures it’s a little more “aww” to see the B1 battle droids sliced and diced. Justice for Roger!) I liked the spider-guy’s new look and the clash of principles following by an ease of tensions between Rex and the Bad Batch.

Overall, this is a nice return for the series. It’s a little too familiar for folks like me who’ve seen this story (albeit a lesser version of it) before, but I’m still glad to have more of The Clone Wars in its full-fledged glory.